Morel
Overview
Morchella, the true morels, is a genus of edible mushroom
s closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi
. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb
-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them.
These ascocarp
s are prized by gourmet cooks, particularly for French cuisine
. Commercial value aside, morels are hunted by thousands of people every year simply for their taste and the joy of the hunt.
Morels have been called by many local names; some of the more colorful include dryland fish, because when sliced lengthwise then breaded and fried, their outline resembles the shape of a fish; hickory chickens, as they are known in many parts of Kentucky
; and merkels or miracles, based on a story of how a mountain family was saved from starvation by eating morels (the spelling "merkel" reflects a corruption of the word "miracle" as spoken with an Appalachian dialect common to SW Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky area).
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi
Cup fungus
The Pezizaceae are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota which produce mushrooms that tends to grow in the shape of a "cup". Spores are formed on the inner surface of the fruit body . The cup shape typically serves to focus raindrops into splashing spores out of the cup...
. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb
Honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal waxcells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey...
-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them.
These ascocarp
Ascocarp
An ascocarp, or ascoma , is the fruiting body of an ascomycete fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and may contain millions of asci, each of which typically contains eight ascospores...
s are prized by gourmet cooks, particularly for French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
. Commercial value aside, morels are hunted by thousands of people every year simply for their taste and the joy of the hunt.
Morels have been called by many local names; some of the more colorful include dryland fish, because when sliced lengthwise then breaded and fried, their outline resembles the shape of a fish; hickory chickens, as they are known in many parts of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
; and merkels or miracles, based on a story of how a mountain family was saved from starvation by eating morels (the spelling "merkel" reflects a corruption of the word "miracle" as spoken with an Appalachian dialect common to SW Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky area).
